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Brevard Academy celebrates Pi Day with pies aplenty

Brevard Academy Physical Education Teacher Shane Galloway laughs after getting pied in the face Friday as part of the school's celebration of Pi Day.

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By CAITLIN BYRDTimes-News Staff Writer

Published: Friday, March 14, 2014 at 1:17 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 14, 2014 at 1:17 p.m.

Squealing and shouting as a fluffy pastry zoomed toward the face of one school administrator and teacher after another, the fun multiplied for Brevard Academy students Friday as they celebrated the mathematical constant known as pi, or 3.14.

March 14, commonly referred to as Pi Day because it shares the same numbers as the ratio between a circle's circumference and diameter, has become something of a tradition at Brevard Academy.

“They're getting to do math activities that are not necessarily out of their books,” said first-grade teacher Cammy Stirling, who said the school has celebrated the day for the last eight years she's worked there. “Students get to see how all these numbers are all over in their environment.”

This year, the school-wide celebration featured a variety of contests. Students from kindergarten to eighth grade participated in competitions like memorizing the digits of pi, a pi art contest, a pi T-shirt contest and a pi story or poem. The winners of those contests were then able to throw pies at the school teacher or administrator of their choosing.

This year, School Director Tony Helton, Challenge Foundation Fellow Ben Butler and Physical Education Teacher Shane Galloway were the ones to put on the trash bags and wait to get pied for the sake of education and philanthropy.

To coincide with the Pi Day celebrations, the school held a canned food drive this week for Bread of Life in Brevard. The goal was to get 314 cans of food. School officials said they exceeded that goal and received 461 canned goods. Ice cream parties went to the13 classrooms, including Stirling's first graders, that collected the most cans.

Teachers got to get in on the pie action as well, Stirling said. In addition to the canned food drive, a “pennies for pasta” coin drive was held to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The three teachers who received the most money for the coin drive got seven pies, five pies or three pies, respectively, to throw at their colleagues. In the envelopes containing the coins, Stirling said students indicated which teacher they wanted to see pied in the face.

However, Stirling said that in addition to the pie fun, the day is really about finding the fun in pi.

“We get to do different math stations and centers throughout the day. It's definitely a day where we're incorporating math in everything we do,” Stirling said.

<p>Squealing and shouting as a fluffy pastry zoomed toward the face of one school administrator and teacher after another, the fun multiplied for Brevard Academy students Friday as they celebrated the mathematical constant known as pi, or 3.14. </p><p>March 14, commonly referred to as Pi Day because it shares the same numbers as the ratio between a circle's circumference and diameter, has become something of a tradition at Brevard Academy. </p><p>“They're getting to do math activities that are not necessarily out of their books,” said first-grade teacher Cammy Stirling, who said the school has celebrated the day for the last eight years she's worked there. “Students get to see how all these numbers are all over in their environment.”</p><p>This year, the school-wide celebration featured a variety of contests. Students from kindergarten to eighth grade participated in competitions like memorizing the digits of pi, a pi art contest, a pi T-shirt contest and a pi story or poem. The winners of those contests were then able to throw pies at the school teacher or administrator of their choosing. </p><p>This year, School Director Tony Helton, Challenge Foundation Fellow Ben Butler and Physical Education Teacher Shane Galloway were the ones to put on the trash bags and wait to get pied for the sake of education and philanthropy.</p><p>To coincide with the Pi Day celebrations, the school held a canned food drive this week for Bread of Life in Brevard. The goal was to get 314 cans of food. School officials said they exceeded that goal and received 461 canned goods. Ice cream parties went to the13 classrooms, including Stirling's first graders, that collected the most cans.</p><p>Teachers got to get in on the pie action as well, Stirling said. In addition to the canned food drive, a “pennies for pasta” coin drive was held to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The three teachers who received the most money for the coin drive got seven pies, five pies or three pies, respectively, to throw at their colleagues. In the envelopes containing the coins, Stirling said students indicated which teacher they wanted to see pied in the face.</p><p>However, Stirling said that in addition to the pie fun, the day is really about finding the fun in pi.</p><p>“We get to do different math stations and centers throughout the day. It's definitely a day where we're incorporating math in everything we do,” Stirling said. </p><p>___</p><p>Reach Byrd at caitlin.byrd@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7881.</p>